Aright v 2.1 -- a Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction by:
Quatragonal  Limited Productions

Design and planning:
     Designer-Planner ~ Mien Diem ~ miendiem@hotmail.com
(well, I didn�t really plan this one in advance.  Volume 1 just got such an
overwhelming response that I felt the need to write a comeback for it.)
Writing:
     Author ~ Mien Diem
Revising / Editing
     Revisionist ~ Mien Diem
Test Readers:
     (none)
Surprised?
____________________________________________________________________          
     "Thanks to everyone who read volume 1.  I was kinda planning on �Aright�
being a one-shot deal, but the response was so overwhelming that I felt a true
call to write a second shot for it, as it were.  I�m just going to write this
as I go, and I tend to ramble, so it might end up being a bit longer.  I won�t
guarantee that it�ll pick up right where the other one left off.  In fact, I�d
be surprised if it did.  Still, I�ll make sure to fill you in.  After all, the
death of Gendo isn�t just a minor event�  I doubt that there�ll be an Angel in
this one.  Besides, I have enough other things to run with for now.  I�m going
to try to squeeze four pages out of it� but without an Angel battle � I can�t
even guarantee that.  All I can really be sure of is that this will most
definitely _not_ look like episode 20.  And if it does � well � either you
need to have your eyes checked, or I managed to squeeze more into four pages
than I thought possible.  ^_^;;;  Anyway � lets just get on with the fic
before I start ranting again.  Usual disclaimers do apply, and Asuka fans and
those who are anti-Shinji x Rei should probably still stay away."  ~ Mien Diem
____________________________________________________________________
     It had been two days since the attack of the 14th Angel, and everything
had gone wrong.  The blast, as the cleaning crew had been unfortunate enough
to discover, had left everything of Gendo below the ribcage.  Apparently the
rest had been completely incinerated, because there wasn�t a trace of his
upper torso, or his arms above the elbows anywhere.  As for what was left of
him, there was to be a funeral on the ground of the Geofront, per his
instructions, the next day.  Shinji had, in his mind, been debating whether or
not to attend, and finally decided that it would be better to make peace with
_someone_ in this God-forsaken world than to keep going like he was.  He made
the decision in his small offshoot room of Misato�s apartment, listening to
track 25 on his SDAT.
                                                  ����������
     "He�s been in that room for two days!" Asuka ranted.
     "Yeah, I know," Misato sighed.
     Obviously the situation had even managed to affect Misato�s "perfect
little family".  Even Asuka was becoming concerned about things that she had
no right to be � or at least no reason to be.
     "It just isn�t _normal_," Asuka complained.
     "I know," Misato repeated, sigh and all.
                                                   ����������
     Shinji brought himself out of his thoughts with the realization that he
was _hungry_.  Indeed, _very_ hungry.  However, he could not decide which
scared him more:  death by starvation or Misato�s cooking. So � he debated.
     "Misato�s cooking � or starvation."
     "Misato�s cooking � or starvation."
     "Well � Misato�s cooking might kill me."
     "On the other hand, starvation _will_ kill me."
     Then, another interesting thought struck him.  He had to mull this one
over a bit, so he stopped his external monologue.
     "Sounds like a good idea to me," he said.  "After all, that way I get to
skip Asuka�s nightly rant, and there has to be _some_ way Ayanami gets food.
And she can�t be a worse cook than Misato�  Aww � why the hell not?"
     Shinji grabbed a few things, stuffed them in his schoolbag, and headed
out the door of his room.
                                                     ����������
     Outside his room, both Misato and Asuka heard the door open.
     "Shinji!" Misato exclaimed, surprised.
     "Where are you going, idiot?" Asuka asked.
     "Out," he replied.
     "Idiot!  I knew _that_," Asuka cast a despising glance at Shinji.
     "Sorry," Shinji said, putting on his shoes.
     "Nggaaaah!" Asuka screamed, storming off to her room.
                                                       ����������
     On the street, Shinji headed off for Rei�s apartment.  After all, it
wasn�t hard to find, he thought.  Just head for the noisiest sector of Tokyo-3
and you�re there.  And it wasn�t really a hard walk, either � only about one
and a half times as far as walking to school, which didn�t take long, and
wasn�t too terribly far.
     "And what am I going to do when I get there?  Just let myself in like
last time?" Shinji asked himself.
     "Sure � why not?  Of course, I�ll knock first �"
     "I just hope she�s in."
     Before he knew it, Shinji was in front of Rei�s apartment building.  He
wandered up the stairs, rather than taking the elevator, and stopped on the
4th floor, and headed for room 402.  The door was, as usual, packed full of
mail that was never read.  Shinji rapped on the door twice, and pushed the
intercom button before he got a response.
     "Enter," wafted through the intercom.
     Actually, Shinji realized, this was the first time he had come here that
Rei had actually been in.  Of course, it was also the first time that the
intercom had worked either �  Shrugging off these obscure facts, Shinji
twisted the door handle and pulled the door open, entering silently. 
     As he looked over the room, he noted that the place sure had not improved
much.  Most of the trash was off the floor, thanks to his efforts a few weeks
earlier, but the general area just managed to look more disheveled than it
should.  Then there was Rei herself.  Nothing too incredibly out of place
there, if one could discount the extra redness in her eyes and the dried
streaks of tears that ran down her face � which, of course, Shinji couldn�t.
     The scene settled into an uneasy silence, neither one wanting to make a
comment, and neither one finding anything meaningful to say.  They literally
stayed that way for a minute, Shinji just inside the doorway, Rei sitting on
her bed, before either really _moved_.	
     Shinji�s first impulse was to back slowly out the door and close it, then
get the hell out of the general area.  The more he thought about it, though,
the less it seemed like a good plan.  If she�d been crying, he reasoned, that
must mean she�s sad.  And if she�s sad, she�ll need _someone_ to confide in.
_And_, since I�m the only one she trusts, she told me that night, it _should_
be me.  But what do I know about comforting anyone?  Aw hell � If I can save
the world from towering monstrosities, I can lend a shoulder to cry on and an
ear to listen to a girl � no � a friend.  (Author�s insert:  a girlfriend?)
     Shinji made his way, rather awkwardly, over to the side of the bed where
Rei was sitting.  He sat down, only barely noticing that she did not so much
as even acknowledge his presence.  Again, the silence came and separated them.
Shinji had the distinct feeling that the whole of Tokyo-3 was between them,
even though he knew, in his mind, that she was right next to him.  (Author�s
insert:  Again!  Again with the silence thing!)
     "� Ikari � Ikari � he�s � he�s gone," Rei choked out.
     "I know, Rei � I know," Shinji replied, trying to hide his own feelings.
     {rS: What makes this so much harder for her?}
     Neither tried to speak.  For Rei, he thought, the silence had to hurt as
much as the speaking.  For his part, Shinji didn�t really know what to say.
And so the silence set in again, broken only by the sound of the sobs that Rei
choked back.  Shinji had to admit to feeling completely useless at this point.
Still, that was not a new feeling, so he ignored it.
     "Rei �" he began.  "you can�t � punish � yourself for � what happened."
     "Not � punish �" Rei managed.  "Sadness � tears that � won�t come."
     "I, um," Shinji began.
     It was all he managed to get out before Rei broke down.  She blinked as
the saline dripped down her face.  Shinji almost couldn�t believe the sight.
"Oh, if Asuka knew about _this_ one �" he thought.  "She�d likely have a heart
attack."  Almost against his will, and certainly against his conscious
thought, Shinji reached out and put an arm around Rei�s shoulders.  She
somewhat jumped in surprise at this, but never stopped crying.  All that
transpired was Rei eventually burying her face in Shinji�s shoulder and
continuing her crying.
     {aS: Oh, Shinji � what have you done now?}
     {rS: Now _isn�t_ the time for your games.}
     {aS: Fine.  Comfort now.  Talk later.}
     "Ikari � I � he," Rei got out.
     "Past, Rei.  We cannot return � the overarching time � to the previous.
Only bring it forward," Shinji said.  (Author�s spiel:  Yes, this was
influenced by the "We cannot turn back the hands of time, but we can spur it
forward by our own acts" line by Gendo.)
     "It � isn�t that," Rei replied carefully.
     "What?" Shinji was genuinely confused.
     "I � am his �" Rei tried.
     "His what?" Shinji asked.
     {rS: And just when I thought there were no more surprises to be had �}
     "Creation," Rei said firmly.
     Shinji felt his heart skip a beat.  He took a long, slow breath and tried
to put himself back together mentally.  Rei was a creation of his father?
Shinji would have expected that about as much as he would have been ready for
Kensuke to walk up to him five minutes from now and tell him that Asuka was
desperately in love � with Shinji.  This kind of thing, Shinji decided firmly,
just was _not_ supposed to happen.  However, that did not change the fact that
it was, and thus that it must be confronted, otherwise dealt with, or run
from.
     Shinji was about to speak, but then the thought hit him differently, or
rather, the full realization of what it was came upon him, and he pulled a
double-take.  Of course, his line of thought was off from the start, but there
was no way he could have known that.  His idea went something like this:  His
father had him, then had some sort of affair while his mother was still alive,
which produced Rei, but she wasn�t brought into the picture until after Yui
died, for fear of ruining the relationship.  Shinji�s estimation of his father
sank to the bottom rung on the spot.
     "Creation �" Shinji said aloud, dragging over each syllable like it was a
field of spikes.
     "A creation from the same science that bore Eva, they said," Rei repeated
the phrase.
     {rS: That doesn�t help much.  I don�t even know what Eva is.  Obviously
it�s biological, or at least partially � but that doesn�t explain it.  And
what would father need to create her for?}
     {aS: Think about it, oh wise one.  She�s the first child, isn�t she?
Make sense now?}
     {rS: I hope he�s roasting happily now.  That isn�t fair.}
     {aS: May not be fair, but it�s the truth.}
     "W-why?" Shinji asked.
     "To replace the need for pilots and be the hope for all mankind," Rei
stated.
     A familiar anger boiled up in Shinji.  This was something he knew
something of, and he knew it wasn�t fair.  He had felt this before.
Injustice.  Inequity.  Father.
     "They said that about me, too. �As for Suzuhara, it's not a mistake to be
mended by apologizing with words.  But Shinji, to be honest, I was projecting
my dreams, hopes and purpose onto you.  I know it's been a burden for you.
But we, everyone at Nerv, had no choice but to trust our future to you.  Just
remember that, please.� Misato said.  The weight of the world will break any
one person, Rei.  Even you � and I know you�re stronger than me.  The only
viable alternative would be to eliminate the pressure � but that couldn�t be
done without killing you," Shinji said.
     As soon as the words left his lips, Shinji realized he had made a
mistake.  Rei�s almost bloodless lips pursed together, and she started crying
again.
     "Damn!" Shinji swore.  "Ayanami, you�re just going to have to be � strong
enough � until I can find another way."
     Rei nodded silently, leaning a little harder against Shinji.
     "Ikari � <author fights urge to add the "-kun" suffix> stay � here.
Can�t � lose two �" Rei sobbed.
     "Sure, Rei," Shinji said.
     It was his last act before he fell asleep.
____________________________________________________________________
     "Heh � Take that, Ryo! <the co-author, not the test reader>  Now I know
this world�s fun.  I know I�m concentrating on Shinji, and it�s going to stay
that way.  Why?  Because I like it that way.  Solves a few coherency problems.
Other than that, the hammer falls in volume 3.  It sure won�t end with Third
Impact, but it�ll be an Impact!  <eg>  Don�t worry, though.  Lemons still
aren�t options.  <chuckles>  And if you get really lucky, I�ll toss in a
little fanservice, too!  ^_^;;;" ~ Mien